Representatives of travel firms of Quang Ninh Province and HCMC shake hands at the signing ceremony of cooperation agreements in HCMC last Friday.

Trinh Dang Thanh, deputy director of the department, told the Daily at a conference on tourism cooperation between Quang Ninh and HCMC last Friday that the flooding had cost the provincial tourism sector around VND200 billion (some US$9.2 million).

Many tours were suspended, dealing a blow to travel firms in the Northern Province. Thanh said the full resumption of tourism activities in Quang Ninh Province would depend on weather.

According to the government of Quang Ninh Province, all 1,500 tourists stranded on Co To Island off mainland Quang Ninh Province had been taken back to the shore as of last Saturday afternoon when torrential rain abated.

Le Hong Thang, director of the Port Authority of Inland Waterway in Quang Ninh Province, said tourist boats have been licensed to resume services in Halong Bay since Saturday morning.

At the conference, many travel firms in HCMC and Quang Ninh inked agreements to serve their respective guests with representatives of tourism associations and agencies of the two localities witnessing.

Travel firms of HCMC and Quang Ninh agreed to attract tourists from HCMC and the southern region to the north and vice versa. They also commited to offering discounts and service support to woo travelers.

Thanh said many tourists in the south know about Halong and Yen Tu but Quang Ninh Province has many other appealing tourist sites. “That’s why we are here to find ways to cooperate and attract visitors from a major tourist hub like HCMC,” he said.

source by SGT